Apparatus for filling containers



Oct. 12,, 1948.

F. P. YOARS APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS 2' Sheets-Sheet -1 Filed April 21, 1945 IN V EN TOR.

Oct. 12,, 1948. F. P. YoARs APPARATUS FOR FILLING coumnmfis 2, Sheds-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Filed l lpril 21. 1945 Fatented Oct. 12, 1948 ED PAT E N T F 2,451,011?

APPARAIEUS FORaFILLING-s CONTAINERS:

Fred PI Years; New Orleans, La. 7 ApplicationiApvil-i u; 1945; S'erial No.:589,'587.

SICliiins. o1. 226-94) This.inventiomxrelatw tograpparatusl fonfil-ling containers;

off'the material. from: a dispensing-apparatus:-

Insapparatus zheretoiore employed-ifonfilling: containers with semi-solid materials both me-s chanicahi and :manual means-have .been used.

Witln'both of-i suchomeans l-howevemzthe material has been intermittently .gadeliveredin: measured.

quantitiesstothm containers; thus'necessitatingia dispensingssoperationr iin :the fillingi of ea chi-.c n.-- -v tainen or; a: seriesr'thereof Arprimary-iobjectv ofstherip l "ilylvenliifln the'zprovision of .apparatusior-rapi lY filling 9 tainers ,in' successioncfrom :a: continuous flow 0 semiesolidzzmaterial with; substantially; uniform;

ported-by.:vertical legs H: which adjacenttheir quantitieszof material vin==the cont-ainers=and:-with.- outi'dripping orlWaste: ofethe material; 2 v

Azfurther: object: of: the invention is: the -.-proi visionl-ofmanually:controlled-apparatussforyielde ably supporting ;acontainer-bearing;rackibeneathvt a matenialzdispensingmeans; wherebyytheirack'is of being moved into filling position without waste or dripgfrom a continuous flow of the semi-solid material.

A still iurth'enobjfectzlofi-thainvention is the provisionsofra noveliapparatus. of the above noted character which is relatively' simple'in construction, durable, eflicient in operation, and which in use providesioi theu'illing of conta-iners expeditiously, and with minimum .effort on the part of v an operator.-.

Other objects and advantages will becomeeap parent from. the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanyingdraw e ings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus disclosing the novel apparatus for successively filling containers with a semi-solid material having a continuous flow from a dispensing means.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus showing the operation thereof upon manual lowering of the container-supporting rack preparatory to advancing another container or series of containers to the dispensing means.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation as seen from the right 'neath the table top-are pivotally connected -ae 2 1 of Fig. 2 and showing theapparatus in a position corresponding to that indicated in .brokenlines; in Fig. 2, this figure also showing the breaking; of the fiowof material to permit advancingan;

. ,otherrcontainer into'filling position without dri'pi 10.) for detachable connection with a suitable dispens-,

ing apparatusoperative to force the-,semi-solid materialsina continuous flow through andioutu of the tubes- While three suchtubes are shown, v more or less may beused,,.depend'entupon ..'the 1 l5 -number ofcontainers or cupsin the successive series thereof as arranged in a 'rack- R.

Theapparatusior supporting the rack RY'and-Q.

permitting both vertical and horizontal movement g,

thereof, comprises a suitable table top- I il supe lowenends are interconnected by the-brace mem-- bers l2andmi3;

Anwinverted Usshapedmember or-bail 141ml.

the; :basethereof extending above" andsparallel with the table top and the opposedlegs;thereof capableipf .beingryeasily" and rra-pidl-y 'jI OVed-w- -bOTxh-"f vertically; andhorizontally foiz successively:rplac,-"- inggthezcontainers ln;fil1illg. ;pQSi-ti0n andiwhereinv-i thelcraick is movablervertically; to .an;-= ext-ent -=.t0.-t break=--1the:flow' 0f: 13he:.-ViSc0us--semi-solidw-materlalir suchsthat: the; successive :containers areicapable-e pivotally connected at.-l8':. tovertically disposed;-

ears I 9 on the opposed ends of a slat 20 suitably secured-as at'ZD- to the-table top adjacent ones: endthereof;

The lower-ends of: the legs ofmember l l beto'correspondingendsof arms-22 whose opposite ends are connected with trunnions -23 -suitably=-" supported in cushion devices '24: Thesedevices K 24 are provided with brackets '2 5 *which "are secured as at 26'tothe1 lower face of the table topi- The cushion devicesmay be of any well know-11*; form and which functiomto ieldablymaintairri the member" |'4-'iniraised'position as inor" asin fullllines in Fig; 2 whilepermitting'hown' with a strip or bar 21 for support of the lower side wires 5 of the rack, and in order to restrain the rack against lateral movement suitable guide members 28 are secured to bar 21 and projecting thereabove, the guide members resting closely within the side wires 8. The bar 21 is preferably 3 rounded to provide for ease of movement of the rack.

The cushion devices resist downward movement of arms 22 only to an extent such that the rack R with its load of cups or containers C is supported when held by the hands of an operator as indicated in Fig. 1, but such devices readily yield upon urging the rack downwardly by the hands with substantially little effort upon the part of an operator.

In operation of the apparatus an operator grasps a rack R at opposite ends thereof by her hands, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The rack is then positioned on the strip 21 and the endmost series of cups C are brought under the tubes T, which tubes in the raised position of the rack project into the cups. As the cups fill the rack is gradually lowered and when the cups are filled the rack is quickly depressed, as in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein the tops of the cups are spaced from the lower ends of the tubes at such a distance that the flow of material is broken, as indicated at b in Fig. 3, which, together with the viscous nature of the material, permits longitudinal movement and then elevation of the rack with the second series of cups beneath the tubes without spilling any of the material. When the second series of cups are filled, a like movement is imparted to the rack and the cups supported thereby.

Little skill is required to manually manipulate the apparatus and an operator after having had simple instructions will be able to manipulate the apparatus in the manner above described.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing disclosure that the improved apparatus provides for the expeditious filling of containers by substantially unskilled operators and, due to the continuous flow of the material, it is only necessary to support the rack on the strip 21 and keep moving same with minimum effort, whereby a large number of containers is capable of being filled in a minimum period of time and with assurance that the material will not drip onto the table top or otherwise be wasted.

Furthermore, by this means of filling, wherein measured quantities of the material are not dispensed as in previous methods, the successive cups will be filled with substantially uniform quantities of the material.

While I have disclosed the invention in accordance with a single specific embodiment thereof, such is to be considered as illustrative only and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being defined in the sub-joined claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by U. S. Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for supporting a container-holding rack beneath a semi-solid material filling tube for movement of the rack toward and from the tube as well as horizontally for successive filling of the containers, comprising a rigid horizontal base support, a horizontally disposed rack ongaging bar disposed above the base support and having laterally disposed legs integral therewith extending downwardly through slots in the base support, pivotal connections between the base support and the upper ends of the legs, and yieldable means disposed below the base support having pivotal connection with the lower ends of the legs for urging the rack-supporting bar upwardly while offering little resistance to manual lowering of the bar, said bar having a rounded rack-engaging surface, and laterally disposed rack-engageable guides connected to the bar and projecting thereabove.

2. Apparatus for the purpose set forth, including a horizontally disposed table top, an inverted U-shaped member having a horizontal base portion disposed above the table top and laterally disposed legs projecting through slots in the table top, a pair of laterally disposed bars having corresponding ends thereof pivotally connected with the legs adjacent the upper ends thereof and having their opposite ends pivotally connected with the table top adjacent one end thereof, a pair of laterally spaced cushion devices supported beneath the table top, and an arm operatively connected with each cushion device and having its free end pivotally connected with the lower end of a respective one of said legs.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, together with a rack supporting strip secured to said base portion.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2, together with rack guide members secured to said base portion adjacent said legs.

5. Apparatus for supporting a container-holding rack beneath a semi-solid material-filling 3 tube for movement of the rack toward and from the tube as well as horizontally for successive filling of the containers, comprising a rigid horizontal base support, a horizontally disposed rackengaging bar disposed above the base support and having laterally disposed legs extending through slots in the base support, pivotal connections between the base support and the upper ends of the legs, and yieldable means disposed below the base support having pivotal connec- 'tions with the lower ends of the legs for urging the rack-supporting bar upwardly while offering little resistance to manual lowering of the bar, said yieldable means being secured beneath the base support, and said pivotal connections of the yieldable means with the legs comprising arms operatively connected with the yieldable means.

FRED P. YOARS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,019,202 Taylor Oct. 29, 1935 2,042,453 Anderson June 2, 1936 2,128,735 Schmidt Aug, 30, 1938 2,366,366 Souder Jan, 2, 1945 

